I don't think anyone was suggesting that you did anything wrong....at least, I know I was not. I think you did the right thing by bringing the problem to the admin's attention. However, you were saying very blunt things like "you are wrong" to several people, including myself. I think that's why you felt people were getting upset. No one likes someone else to be that blunt; especially on a forum, since you cannot see body language, hear tone, etc.; it's better to say things like "I disagree" etc. Again, that's all JMO. Since you brought the subject up, I thought I'd throw it out there!!

I think I added "with all due respect" and also a smiley face. It is the best I can do on a forum to express a feeling

And by the way, I did not feel people were getting upset. On the contrary, I feel that most replies were quite positive and an attempt at solving the problem.

As long as the admin is working on the problem, I don't see what the issue is anymore.

This has been happening for a long time. Whatever I do a search for on Google ends up as adds at the top of the page. I don't know how this works, but I do know that is what is happening. Right now I have Eukanuba puppy start adds because I was searching for puppy packets for our next litter.

Same for me...whatever I have purchased online or searched shows up as ads here.

This thread reminds me of a really thought-provoking TED talk in which the speaker made interesting comparisons between censorship and the way Google (and other internet companies) creates "filter bubbles" through its use of algorithms to filter search results based on what it thinks will be relevant to you. It's pretty scary, especially if you aren't aware that it's happening.

It is possible that some readers did not read the previous posts in the thread. I mentioned numerous times that I did not do any searches of this nature on this computer.

The google advertising packages work according to the ad package that is sold and also according to certain content words found on the website (forum). In doing so, the company tries to include ads that match the website content.

As the admin already stated, these companies can be clever sometimes and lessen the filters so the results would be much broader.

It would be quite ridiculous if I did a google search on single russian women, and then complained about seeing such an ad right here on the forum.

Sorry - I wasn't trying to imply that you were. I debated whether to post at all since the issue was clearly settled. But as I said in my first post, the topic of filtering in advertising on the internet reminded me of the broader (and in many ways scarier) topic of the filtering happening every time we do a search or use Facebook, or many of the other most popular ways of using the internet. While there are times when it's nice that our results end up being so "relevant" to us, the flip side of "personalization" can be a more limited world view.

As I said, my post really wasn't intended to stir the pot :-)

__________________
Tucker, Shamus and Stella

Last edited by Tucker57; 01-18-2012 at 01:16 AM.
Reason: to expand my thought

Just a note to cap this old thread -- it's not only your searches that generate keywords for ad targeting anymore. These days, it's also the content of the posts on the forum you're viewing. So if you bring up a post that has a headline containing the word "cougar," "date," or "dating," guess what ads you'll see? It's much, much harder than it used to be to administer and deal with all this, as the keywords are not based on a static list that can be edited, but on the dynamic content of the forum itself.